What Did You Get for YOUR Birthday?

Three weeks--THREE WEEKS until I leave! Can you believe it?? 

I can't. 

It's so surreal to think that this is all actually happening. Sometimes I feel like shouting, "HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!! I'M GOING ON A MISSION!" all the time! And other times I think to myself, "Oh my goodness--what am I doing?? I can't believe I'm doing this!" But I know in whom I have trusted, and my Savior will sustain me through this grand new adventure in my life.

Anyway, back to the title question of this post: What did you get for YOUR birthday? 

 

Because I got a temple for mine.

Getting Outfitted

Life has been happening, so there has not been as much blogging. My apologies.

Do you realized that I am less than FOUR WEEKS away from the greatest adventure of my life?? It's so crazy. I can barely wrap my head around it. These past few weeks have been full of working, volunteering in first grade, spending time with wonderful friends, temple trips, scripture study, institute, lots of time with family, and, of course, SHOPPING.

Dun dun DUUUUN.

Shopping and I have a love-hate relationship. I mean, I like getting new clothes--what girl doesn't? However, I want what I want, and when I can't find what I want, I tend to get frustrated and want march out the door in a huff. I'm super picky, but I don't have the energy to comb the racks for hours on end, so I tire quickly. It can be a difficult situation. I have had several shopping days where I have walked out the door of the store irritated and empty-handed. Grr.

However, it turns out that to alleviate shopping stress, you just need to go with the right person.

Enter my cousin-in-law (my cousin Spencer's wife) Marcie.

She's Miss Super Shopper Woman, and a couple weeks ago we went shopping and got me 4 stylish skirts for $100 in less than an hour. Ka-BLAM. We dearly love having Marcie in the family for a multitude of reasons.

So, I thought since it is now the Era of the Sister Missionary (my dear friend Megan just got her call to Georgia Atlanta North--woo hoo!), I would post some of the places where I've had luck finding stuff. Because we sister missionaries have to help each other out, you know.

• Old Navy: Cardigans
• Famous Footwear: Brown Naturalizer flats
• Raffinata (Nampa Mall): 4 skirts for $100--black, black and white polka-dot, green ruffle skirt, brown pleated skirt
• Khol's: Red flats and red sweater (yay! I love red shoes!)
• DownEast: Basic camisoles/tees, black dress
• Gordman's: Black flats
• Target: Plaid raincoat, scarves, earmuffs
• Burlington Coat Factory: Down coat
• Sorella Bella: Split slips, warmer skirts
• Maurice's: Ruffled top
• Petersen's Clothing: Dresses

You can check out my Pinterest board here.

Hope that helps! The days and weeks keep whipping by. 25 days to go!

Moved with Compassion

Because of certain things I have experienced and heard lately, I have been thinking a lot about how the Savior was moved with compassion as he ministered among the people.

Matthew 14:14: And Jesus saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward him, and he healed their sick.

Luke 7:13 (when he saw the widow whose son had died): And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

3 Nephi 17:7: Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

The Lord did not only feel compassion; he was moved with compassion to action, and as disciples of Christ, we must be moved as well.

This brings to mind an experience I had a couple years ago during my sophomore year at BYU.

Fall semester it seemed like everything was descending on me at once. I was taking one of the hardest semesters I had ever had, and I was working part time on top of a full class load. I was missing my best friend overseas horribly. My computer broke. And then conference weekend, I got a phone call.

The Power of Gratitude

One thing I have really gained a testimony of in the past few months is gratitude. 

The one leper who came back to thank the Savior after being healed

I have to admit that many times when I have heard people talk about being grateful, I thought it was another way to say

"Quit whining." 

I had never really tested the power of gratitude in my life.

Missionary Zeal

On Sunday I received an assignment to teach Sunday School for the 15 and 16-year-olds in my ward (local congregation) for the next six weeks while their teacher recovers from a broken leg.

My response when asked if I would accept this assignment?

"YES!!" 

*fist pump* 

 (Yes, I really did that.)

I think I surprised my leaders a little bit with my enthusiasm.

The Best Mission on Earth

In case you missed it, this is the video from September 6, 2012, the day I received my mission call.

[The video is uploading...it's taking forever!]

And there was much rejoicing. :)

I'm sorry for all you other missionaries and missionaries-to-be out there, but the New York Rochester Mission is hands-down the BEST mission on earth.

There will be no negotiation on this point.

First of all, let me quickly define what a mission is for those who may not know. When someone says, "I'm going on a mission," they mean that they will be dedicating 18 months (if they are a girl) or 2 years (if they are a boy) of their life to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ--faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  Full-time missionaries are volunteer representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the duration of their mission, they will give up schooling, dating, time with their families, and the comforts of home to go to the area where they are assigned to find and teach people about the Savior and invite them to receive the greatest blessings that God has in store for them.

Until recently, the age for young men to go on missions was 19, and the age for young women was 21, but it has been changed to 18 for young men and 19 for young women. You can read some of my thoughts about the change here. The term "mission" can also be used to refer to the area of the world where the young people are assigned to go (no, I didn't get to choose!), and there are missions all over the world--over 350 missions in 162 nations! You can see a list of them here, on the LDS Mission Network site.

In honor of my friend Lyn's mission call this past week, I thought I'd show you all a few things I've learned about the New York Rochester Mission since my call back in September. Let's take a look, shall we?

Sisters in Zion

This afternoon as I was driving home from work I was listening to John Bytheway's book on CD called What I Wish I'd Known Before My Mission (which I highly recommend, by the way). In it he mentions that he had the privilege of being missionary companions with a friend of his from high school, and he talks about what a great time they had serving together.

I thought to myself how nice it would be to serve with a friend, someone you already knew and trusted. But just as quickly I dismissed the thought, thinking, "But that sort of thing would never happen to me."

Well, my friends, as I've been learning these past few months, you never say never with the Lord.

This is Lyn (+ the Jonas Brothers, of course), a girl I know and love from this past year at BYU. She's a lovely young woman, a phenomenal dancer, and a wonderful friend. 

I shamelessly stole your picture off Facebook, Lyn--I hope you don't mind. :)

Tonight I got a text letting me know that she just got her mission call. And guess what mission she's going to?

That's right--NEW YORK ROCHESTER!! 

She'll be speaking Spanish (I'm not), but she will also be serving in the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center. She leaves in March.

WISH GRANTED.

It's things like this that let me know that God loves and is mindful of me. He gave me what I wanted, and I didn't even really have to ask! Truly the Lord is kind to us.

Congrats on the mission call, Lyn! Can't wait to see you in New York next year!!

On the Edge of Great Things

This past Saturday during the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Thomas S. Monson announced that the age for young men to serve full-time missions had been changed from 19 to 18, and the age for young women to serve had been changed from 21 to 19.

Oh my gracious.

As Heather, who writes Women in the Scriptures, wrote,

While this age change certainly affects young men's plans it changes everything for the young women. I don't think that there will be tons more young men serving missions because of the change but there are going to be thousands of young women who will.

So, so true.

A Day of Eternal Significance

Yesterday was an eternally significant day.

 On Friday, October 5, 2012, I entered the Twin Falls Temple to make and keep sacred covenants in the house of the Lord.

My parents and older sister and I woke up bright and early and made the two-hour drive from our home in Boise to Twin Falls, where we arrived just as the sun was rising on an absolutely beautiful day.

That Lonesome Road

Walk down that lonesome road

All by yourself

Don't turn your head back over your shoulder

And only stop to rest yourself when the silver moon

Is shining high above the trees

I have realized over the past few months that we come to points in our lives when we must walk the lonely road where there is nowhere to turn but Heaven. All the things we have relied on to get us through the tough times in our lives, such as family, diversions, and casual study of the gospel are insufficient by themselves to heal our pain and sustain us through the changes that seem too hard to bear.

My change, the change of going on a mission and giving up my plan for the next two years of my life, included giving up someone I loved very much. I cried...a lot. The pain was almost physical in its intensity. There's still a place in my heart that hurts whenever I dwell on it too much. Let's just say I don't listen to the radio too much, because some of those songs hit a little close to home, you know?

Yeah.

A New Thing: My Mission Story

So, how did I decide to go on a mission?

That, my friends, is a very good question.

But before we get into that, I'd like to explain a little bit of what a mission is to those who may not be of our faith. Often when we say "mission," people think I mean going to another country and doing humanitarian work while preaching the gospel, as many other Christian denominations do. In a matter of speaking, that is accurate. For 18 months I, along with the other young men and women assigned to my particular area, will teach other people about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and invite them to come to know Jesus Christ and implement His teachings in their lives.

Up until four months ago, I was NOT going to go on a mission. No sirree. I had a plan for my life, and a mission was not a part of it. I realized the value of going on a mission, and I really respected and admired those who chose to serve, but I never thought a mission would be something for me.

Why was that?

Beginning Again

Hello! Yes, that's me!

This is the...third or fourth (or is it fifth or sixth?) blog in a list of blogs that I've started. Yep. After writing on these other blogs intermittently for a few months or so, they have petered out either because I was too busy or their purpose had been accomplished (you can see a couple of them here or here).

So why am I writing this blog?

Because I want to.

And because I can.

And because I think it's high time that I start living my faith out loud a little more, and blogging is a great way to do that. 

You see, I've been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the New York Rochester Mission. This blog will chronicle some of my thoughts and experiences leading up to my departure in December (woo hoo!) and will maybe be the place where my parents post the emails I send back home for you all to enjoy. And, if you're really, REALLY lucky, I may even be able to write on this blog myself from time to time while I'm gone. My mission is actually one of the pilot missions that has dabbled in blogging as another way to do missionary work. So I'm excited. Really, really, REALLY excited! I'm excited to go and serve my Heavenly Father in what promise to be 18 of the most exciting, rewarding, exhausting, uplifting, and exhilarating months of my life.

In essence, the purpose of this blog is the same as it is for my mission and my life:

[To] invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. ~ Preach My Gospel

So what's up with the title, you may ask? And how did you decide to go on a mission? Well, stay tuned, my friends, because that's what's coming up in the next few posts.

I'm excited for you to join me on this new journey.

Love,

(Future Sister) Ariel Szuch